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Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Rocketville: A really OLD game in my collection

One of the first few boardgames from Richard Garfield

So this is one of those boardgames that I have had in my collection since i started serious boardgaming. I think it was a present and I did give it a few good plays in before I got hooked on Cult of the New. At that time, it was pretty fun playing this light game. That was when I was in the initial phases of my new .... obsession :P I preferred light hearted short games that did not burn my brains out and had dry/bland art work.

Of course we now know how that turned out huh? In anycase, Rocketville is a area control game. Players will be selecting 1 district each turn and choose a card to play simultaneously. The player with the highest number will get to put their chit down, signifying they have won that area. There is a special card which allows you to draw a card but you forgo your chance at winning the district. However if ALL players play that card, then that district becomes undecided and no one wins that district.
The game ends when all districts have been covered and there is a final scoring where players check who is the majority for that area and wins points. The variants add robot cards which will give you more points if you meet the objectives. Whoever has the most points will win the game.
Now after quite a few years of owning the game and playing it again, compared to the recent batch of games I am playing and keeping, Rocketville does shows its age. The card draw pretty much determines what you can play though you could probably store up enough cards and then come in the last few rounds. To counter that though, the player controlling the rocket which determines which district is in contention will need to play smart such that he/she can score the early wins and get more cards. Art wise its quite ok and components are average. However several years of not touching the game I can see the effects of NOT sleeving the cards.
Its a light family-type game that has average amounts of luck due to card draw but not enough for me at my current phase. Try before you buy!